Gratitude Giveaway – Dreena’s cookbooks and Plant-Powered 15 ebook!

I’m feeling grateful lately. Not about any particularly ‘big’ happenings, but I guess about many little and everyday things. On the most significant level, these past few months I’ve known of several serious illnesses, including with children, in my circle. My heart goes out to those families and I cannot help but be thankful for the lives our children have and our good health. I’m not arrogant about our health. I feel we do the best we can to live healthy and prevent illnesses through our plant-based diet, but there are always factors outside of diet and not so much in our control. So, yes, I am very grateful for our family’s health. I hope to grow in my knowledge to empower us as parents – and therby empower our children later in life.

On a work-level, despite the fact that I seem to keep myself in a somewhat perpetual state of busy (to the point of chaotic many days), it feels as though many things are connecting with my work. But also in the vegan world in general. We are reaching a pivotal point, where awareness will soon break open much wider and inspire more people to at least significantly reduce their consumption of animal products if not adopt a full plant-based or vegan diet.Do you also feel this? While I am not oblivious to the great amount of work we have ahead to eliminate animal suffering and improve our culture’s state of dis-ease, I really feel a shift in beliefs and habits is on the horizon.

I am feeling hopeful for changes in society, and also grateful for those of you that connect with me everyday. Through email, here on my blog, and also facebook and twitter – you motivate me to continue my work. On a lighter note (because this post is getting serious!) – this week my ‘online kitchen’, aka my facebook page, reached 10K likes. Pretty fun! I thank you for joining me and being so engaged with posts and discussions. Don’t tell pinterest and twitter, but facebook is my favorite. Shhh. 😉

One final gratitude entry. I have received kindness and goodwill from people I’ve come to know online, as well as in person. Some of you I knew only as acquaintances and now we have friendships. Others have reached out to provide some assistance to me in my work, knowing I’m juggling too many balls! So, I thank you for the kind and helpful and generous people you are. I’ve expressed as much by email to you, and if you are reading this just know I appreciate your goodness.

Today, I want to give back a little. The best way I know how is with a good ol’ giveaway of my stuff!

How about we line up FIVE of you with one of my cookbooks (your choice!) plus… my new ebook? That’s 5 winners, each taking home a cookbook and ebook. If you have my books and ebook, enter anyway! I’ll send them to a friend for you.

I saw this image with Gratitude Mantras from Integrative Nutrition, and thought that this is something we can all reflect on daily. When we are having a crummy day, a hectic “Calgon-take-me-away” mama day (yes, I’ve dated myself), or just any kind of challenging or ‘blah’ day —

— we can always remember the blessings we do have.

To enter this “Gratitude Giveaway”, join me with a comment of something you are thankful for right now– be it big or small, silly or serious.

I am grateful for all of the love I have in my family and life, and for the community of supportive and enlightening readers I have in you. ♡

I am grateful for so many things, my amazing partner, our 4 wonderful children, our health and how much it’s got better since switching to not only a vegan diet but a plant-powered diet, the special love we have created in our family unit. One of the things that brings me immense joy every day is how much our kids love each other, I love that my partner and I have been the ones to teach them that love.

What am I thankful for…so many things! The short list includes: my husband, my boys, my family and friends, our health. I’m also thankful for having found Dreena and having learned what I’ve learned about eating healthy and delicious foods. I could go on, but I’ll stop now 🙂

I am thankful for a terrific husband, two amazing kids, and people like you, Dreena, who are kind and generous enough with your time and knowledge to help support us on our plant-based journeys. Hats off to you!

My grandmother and my father recently passed within 2 weeks of each other. I don’t even know just how sad I really am. But I am so grateful for my family, my husband, my friends, my coworkers, and my cats. They all make realize that I can get through today. My heart hurts but it is filled with gratitude, as well.

I am grateful for my health and my children’s health. Working as a pediatric oncology nurse I am reminded on a daily basis what a precious gift life is and I am so thankful for every day with my family.

At this moment, I am grateful for my plant-strong diet, my ability to run and the unconditional support of my husband … three things that have helped me regain my health and confidence in the past year. Your recipes help keep me on track and creating so many wonderful dishes in the kitchen. Thank you for being a wonderful resource!

I am grateful for my health as I nurture a dear friend with MS and stage IV breastcancer. I am thankful that I have the energy to take care of her and the knowledge of the right foods to feed her sick body. I cannot help to think that my new found path of clean-eating plant based diet has a bigger purpose than to make me and my family healthy. I believe that this came at a moment when I was ready to make the change (which it itself really isn’t that hard) but that perhaps, I could make a small change in my friend’s life as well. Only the future will tell if she will win her fight. For now, my responsibility is to feed her, be her chemo treatment comic relief, to step in as her stylist when her hair fell off,and to be there.

I’m grateful for my family’s health. My best friend has just had her husband decide to go into hospice as he will not make it another 6 months. he beat cancer twice but the treatments left his organs and brain completely melted. At 38, my best friend will be a widow with 6 and 4 year old sons, both autistic. count our blessings.

I am grateful for you and others like you who share plant based recipes. I am relatively new to this lifestyle and the guidance that was available allowed me to succeed! I know it put me on the road to better health which I am most grateful for because it is difficult to enjoy life’s other blessings if you are suffering from an illness (and I have yet to find a doctor in whose office I do not feel like I am a widget on a factory assembly line so if I do get ill I may stay that way!!) More blessings to you and thank you for being out there doing what you do.

I don’t ever comment, but I couldn’t resist a cookbook giveaway. Your cookbooks are my favorites!I am grateful for health and family. As someone who has suffered from serious illness, everyday is a blessing.

I am incredibly thankful for the quality of life I am able to have. I am thankful for being able to pursue post-secondary education in a field I am passionate about, for having a wonderful boyfriend and family in good health, for being able to afford to do fun activities, for living so close to the great outdoors and being able to spend lots of time in it, for my own health, and finally, for that moment two years ago when I decided to go vegetarian, then a year later when I went vegan. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life and I’m grateful that I had supportive people in my life to help me along the way.

I am grateful to share a HOUSE (with a YARD!!) with people I love and that I’m lucky enough to be able to landscape and design the outdoors to my liking. There’s nothing I love more than CREATING thing swith my two hands, whether ir be a lovely flower garden, food or homemade lavender dryer sachets.

I’m am thankful for the fact that I have a great boyfriend, family, and friends supporting me as I go through internship to become a registered dietitian. I took a chance by quitting my job 4 years ago to go back to school and change careers, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without their support. Only 6 weeks left and I can put RD after my name 🙂

Just want to say that I am grateful for you, Dreena, for being such a positive force for healthy vegan food and for working so hard to spread such a uplifting message to everyone. Thank you for this post and for everything you do!

…greetings and new kindred merry meet!…
…in answer to thine question: for every day i wake up and get to play in this beautiful world! ~ but most importantly ~ the ability to have the free will to make enlightened choices every moment of every day ~ and be able to shine upbuilding energies ~ everywhere i go! ~ blessed be!…(O:

I try to be SO grateful everyday. It being Mother’s Day today, I’m obviously thankful for my mother and my family, but I’m grateful for so much more than that – I’m thankful that I’m alive and healthy and have a roof over my head, I’m glad I can appreciate nature, I’m grateful for my education no matter how much of a headache it gives me, I’m grateful for my 2 adorable cats, I’m grateful that it’s spring so I can start having breakfast and dinner on the patio in my backyard…and so much more!
Thanks for hosting this contest :).
– Laura S

This may sound weird, but I’m grateful for every experience I’ve had in this life. My husband just passed away in January, and the experiences we both were blessed with during that journey were amazing. We really took the time we had to really talk to each other about things we had never said, and it was INCREDIBLY HEALING for both of us.

One of the things I like to do, is at least five times a day, I try to be fully present in any given moment, and say “Life doesn’t get much better than this”….it’s really profound, what happens.

I’m thankful for so many things! My wonderful husband who’s been by my side in good and in bad times for over 12 years now, my children who drive me nuts at times but couldn’t imagine a life without anymore and last not least I’m grateful for having a roof above our heads, food on our table, health and love for each other! <3

I am thankful for so many things, it’s hard to narrow it down…my amazing three children and husband, and breakfast in bed they brought me for Mother’s Day…the blissfully mild spring we’ve had this year in Texas…new friends we’ve made this year…my work and my husband’s stable career…the fact that after a year, I seem to have kicked plantar fascaiitis…there are just too many things to list!

I am grateful that so many people seem to be getting the vegan message and helping to alleviate the suffering of factory farmed animals. I am thankful that (I think) it has quit snowing for this season and the snow is melting, the tulips are starting to bloom and the trees will soon be bursting with leaves, the birds are singing, and well – it’s a beautiful day!

I’m grateful that my mother is still alive even though she is fighting metastatic breast cancer. I’m grateful that people I know are willing to try the vegan food I cook for them. I’m grateful to have a job I love. I’m grateful that I’ve been vegan for more than 12 years. There’s a lot to be grateful for. 🙂

I am grateful for my amazing husband who makes it possible for me to take a break from my nursing career to stay home with our two young children, watching them grow and learn. I am grateful for the resources and support as our family embarks on this journey to eat healthier and pass along healthy habits to our children.

I’m grateful for my husband, my mom and my dogs, all of whom keep me sane. And for the blogging community, from whom I learn so much! And for green smoothies… I could go on and on. So I guess I’m grateful that I have so much to be grateful for 🙂

I am beyond thankful for my family. They have supported me beyond belief, even changing everyone’s diet to help me lower my cholesterol, avoid taking pills for it. They cheer me on as I run a 5K (as I did today) and have been encouraging as I’ve trained and lost nearly 30 lbs.

So thankful for my faith, my family, my friends and vegan brownies! I’m also thankful to see more and more people taking control of their health, getting off their couches and demanding good wholesome food.

I am grateful for being in good health and for all the interesting books I am reading now, and for family, and creative experiences I have had with doing photography, and for travel destinations I have visited.

Grateful for our family and health. Also for being a Mom and having a Mom who has the spirit and energy of a young person. She just turned 80 and you would never know that she is 80, I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with her.

I am grateful for my husband and son. My hubby loves and understands me like no one else in the world, and my son is a gift from God (we adopted him due to my infertility.) I truly love these 2 people and would do anything for them.

Also…I am grateful to you, Dreena, for making me a better cook and teaching me how to make great food! 🙂

I am feeling especially grateful to be a mother, a journey that began 23 years ago, and has provided me such opportunities to grow and blossom into the woman I am today. Deep thanks to my husband and two wonderful sons!

What a great giveaway, Dreena! I’m grateful for wonderful vegan chefs like YOU who keep creating such fantastic recipes for me to make and eat. 🙂 And love the idea of entering anyway–I know lots of folks who’d love to have one of your books!

I am feeling grateful for my Mom & Grandma this Mother’s Day weekend!They are both wonderful ladies with whom I would share these cookbooks if I win 🙂 I am also grateful for your site, your books, & all of the wonderful recipes you share!

So many things! I am VERY grateful for individuals like you Dreena who have done all the leg work to make switching/being vegan infinitely easier than it was 10 yrs ago…so very grateful!! Also, I am so grateful for all the people who have got me to where I am today. Yes that even means the ones who “pushed those buttons”, as it is all about learning & in learning we grow.

I’m very grateful right now actually for the opportunity I was given to live where I do. I live in the Arctic and just spent a week on a research boat on the North coast of Svalbard, it’s not everyday you get to see polar bears and walrus. I’m thankful for these opportunities and the memories I’ve made.

With all of the horrible news I have been reading lately, I am grateful that everyone in my immediate family is safe from harm. We really do take our freedom for granted, some times. On a lighter note, hugs and kisses from my two year old grandson are the best!

With all of the horrible news I’ve been reading about lately, I am grateful that everyone in my immediate family is safe from harm. We really do take our freedom for granted some times. And on a lighter note, hugs and kisses from my two year old grandson are the best!

I am grateful for my family and the various therapists available to help my children with their special needs. I’m grateful I am still working on improving my health. And for the help of wonderful blogs I get ideas from.

It’s spring – what’s not to be grateful for?!? I am also grateful that every day when I wake up, it’s another chance to become the person that I want to be, and make a positive change in the world. And really grateful that veganism found me – it’s like coming home. And, of course, that’s how I found you and your recipes – the icing on the proverbial pumpkin spice cake!

I am grateful for a lot of little things, like all the beauty in springtime when everything comes back to life, I basically stop at every flower and blossom to show them to my little daughter… 🙂

But I am most grateful to have her, my little daughter, to be able to watch her grow and see how she discovers the world, how she stops to kneel down to look at some ants or how she will drop some food and say “birds” or so many other things I wouldn’t ever have dreamed of being able to see if she was not here.
I am greatful for my husband and my little family, they mean the world to me!

I am grateful for friends that also are interested in living a healthy lifestyle it helps to have support. Today we are having one of our potlucks featuring Korean food. If we can find recipes that are naturally vegan we have a lot of fun converting them.

even though it is 4am and we are apparently up for the day 😀 , i am so grateful for my amazing family & friends, our lovely home & garden in-the-works, the fact that it is spring and i am ALIVE!! 🙂 thank you so much for the great giveaway!

I am grateful for my kind, well adjusted, happy children who make me proud to be their Mom. Although this morning I am most grateful for the cup of coffee that is helping me wake up at 4:30 AM on a Saturday so I can cheer my husband on while he runs a 50K trail race.

I’m grateful for my health, and that I’m able to help those who are experiencing serious health challenges. I’m also grateful for discovering Dreena’s website. I asked for LTEV for Christmas and it has become my go-to cookbook. It’s awesome!

Grateful that i had the time to enjoy the most glorious autumn day, with a walk along a nearly empty beach with my life-partner and 12 and a half today year old daughter. We jumped in the clear blue-green water – a little chilly but it makes you feel so alive. The global picture is scary, so i’m always so glad to have paused to reflect on how lucky we are……And by the way glad to have discovered YOU Dreena Burton……my cooking got a whole lot more adventurous since ‘meeting’ you through your recipes!!!!

I am thankful that my dad’s melanoma surgeries (all 3) this week have gone well and that they got all of it and that it hadn’t spread. It is on his ear and the concern was that if it had spread, they would have to remove some of the ear. Wear sunscreen!

I am grateful for the amazing vegan community. I have learnt so much in the last 2.5 years since I turned vegan, I would have never done if it wasn’t for people like yourself sharing their knowledge. And I’m also grateful for all the recipes you share with us, most of them are household favourites now!

What a great post! I should print that mantra out, it seems pretty great. I am thankful for a fiancé who is so supportive of me, does the dishes when I cook, speaks out about veganism (even though he’s not quite there yet), who doesn’t judge too harshly my cookbook addiction :), and encourages me everyday to quit my job and open a vegan bakery…someday 🙂

What a beautiful, inspiring post, Dreena! I am grateful for a lot of things, but mostly the incredible vegan community I have come to be a part of. You’re right – things are changing for the better. I feel it too!

I am truly grateful for the changes that are happening in my family this year. Some are definitely for “good” and some might be seen as “bad” but I feel that they are moving us in the direction we are meant to be going. 🙂 Hooray for changes!

I am grateful for my 1st (and god willing, my last!) gallbladder attacks 3 years ago. Had it not been for them, I honestly don’t think I would have changed my eating habits and learned so much about nutrition. And I have so much yet to learn…

Today I was thankful for the instant coffee packets hiding in the back of my pantry when I ran out of the regular fancy stuff for my French press, because I really needed a cup! And the instant wasn’t half bad with some soymilk!

It’s my daughter’s 10th birthday this year on Mother’s Day and I’m so grateful for having her here with us. She provides us with so much joy and its scary to think that she could may not have been here. She was given 3 blood transfusions in utero and had severe anemia soon after birth. It’s amazing how medical technology has come so far as to save a baby’s life even before she’s born.

I’m grateful that I had my mom for 43 years. She will always be missed when Mother’s day is here. I’m grateful that I have 3 wonderful kids and that my 2 that are in college are visiting for 3 weeks. I’m also grateful to have been married to their father for almost 24 years.

I am grateful for everything in my life, good or bad, as the good brings me love and joy and the bad makes me grow; but most of all, it makes me appreciate the good even more! (so cheesy, I know, but true!) 🙂

Hi Dreena, with Mothers Day here tomorrow I am grateful for all the help my mum has given me. So many of my dear friends have lost their mothers and I see how desperately they miss then and would love their help and support.

I am thankful for my health, for my husband of 27 years, for three wonderful children, for family/friends and for a job where I feel I am truly making a difference. I am thankful for food on the table, a roof over my head, clothes on my body and all the countless small things that we tend to take for granted in our country (i.e. running water, electricity, paved roads, etc).

I recently went through a personal experience that has left me feeling sad and depressed. I am so very grateful for my wonderful friends who have been so supportive of me and who have tried to help me by being upbeat and just being there. I do have terrific friends!

I love the gratitude mantra. I am very thankful today as we all made it through the storm and tornado warning. We only lost one tree. I am grateful that my daughter Brandie and grandson Junior are safe.

I am thankful for my supportive husband. He allows me to live my passions and do the things that are important to me. He is a wonderful provider for our family and a helluva man :-)He is my vegan partner in crime and best friend

I’m grateful that I’m grateful…when I was young my mother always told me I was a pessimist. I would always respond with “I’m not a pessimist, I’m a realist”. But as I’ve aged I’ve come to realize there is so much to be grateful for. My heart is full.

I love this post Dreena and thank you for sharing those gratitude mantras. I’ve really noticed a huge difference in how I feel when I take a moment to step back and acknowledge how grateful I am for so many things.
Here are a couple of picks from today:
– laughter with friends
– delicious fresh carrot and orange juice
– Nature! So many flowers springing right now. Really lifting my spirits.

P.S I can totally feel the shift taking place Dreena. It’s an exciting thing to see.

I am thankful for the packets of instant coffee hiding in the back of my pantry because I just ran out of grounds for my French press and really needed a cup. The instant isn’t half bad either, with a little soymilk!

Today I’m grateful for the abundance of lilac bushes perfuming the air in my neighborhood, my beautiful family (the pup and the partner), having a grass backyard in the middle of the city, and having access to a fantastic library system (so much knowledge at my fingertips!).

I’m grateful for a strong, healthy body. I used to take it for granted, abuse it with junk food and then get upset when it didn’t look the way I wanted it to. Since I’ve changed my diet for the better, I have a new respect for how amazingly resilient our bodies really are. I try to express my gratitude by nourishing myself with health-promoting foods and surrounding myself (if only digitally) with positive people like you. 🙂

I am so grateful for an amazing husband and a wonderfully precocious four-year-old daughter! I am also grateful for the mainstreaming of veganism – making food choices, grocery store visits, restaurant visits, and more so easy! It’s a great time to be vegan.

I am thankful for so many things! Today I am thankful I was able to go outside and play catch with my girls. I am thankful everyday that I am able to stay home with them! And I am thankful for my husband who is a great husband, daddy, and works super hard to provide for our family.

I am grateful for so much, but since my cat is cuddling right now, I have to say I’m grateful for both of my cats! They remind me of the important things in life – showing affection to the ones you love, spending time in the sun, appreciating a good treat, and taking time for a nap every now and again.

Even though I am not vegan, I am trying to cut out meat from my food as much as I can (and as much as can tolerate my husband!) and your e-book really helped me finding interesting and delicious recipes. So I am hoping to get some more ideas!

I am grateful for my family’s health (even though my husband is home sick today, it could be much worse), having the means to buy whatever food we want, and for snuggle time with my 2 little boys. I know someday too soon they won’t want to do that anymore.